'Shadow' emerged from the underground space.
Undoubtedly, the modifications to the "Box of Ultimate Bliss" were complete.
So now, he needed a test subject, a subject to verify the "Box of Ultimate Bliss'" effects.
"Manifestation - enter the gap between the Pure Land and the Shinobi World, one-time use." He silently chanted in his mind.
[Cost: 1000 points. Manifest?]
"Manifest."
As the thought arose, 'Shadow' felt an extremely strong tearing force.
But it wasn't tearing his clone's body; it was tearing the soul fragment of the 'Karma' in his hand.
'Shadow,' this clone belonging to Hyuga Kawa, was inherently special because it was created by implanting 'Karma' into a Shadow Clone and combining it with the "Shadow Robe."
'Shadow' didn't resist the soul-tearing force. The core soul naturally surged out from the 'Karma.'
The soul's appearance was Hyuga Kawa's face, but it was still enveloped by the "Shadow Robe" condensed from Yin Release. With that force, it gradually sank into the ground.
He felt as if he had crossed an invisible, colorless boundary and stepped into a space that defied normal description.
"Is this the 'gap'?"
Hyuga Kawa looked at the scene before him, involuntarily narrowing his eyes, thinking: "Hatake Sakumo is truly impressive to be able to wait for Kakashi in this damned place for over twenty years."
Before him was a deathly silence completely different from any place before, surrounded by chaotic nothingness that seemed to devour all light.
There was no sense of direction here, no up or down, left or right. Underfoot was solid and flat, yet unreal ground, extending into endless darkness.
There was no airflow, no temperature change, only absolute tranquility.
Time had lost its meaning here.
This was the gap between the Pure Land and the living world.
A void, flat and barren, where nothing existed.
"In a place like this, finding someone is quite difficult."
Hyuga Kawa merely smiled, but he wasn't too surprised. The shadow robe around him began to undulate.
If a shinobi with extremely strong sensory abilities were here, they would notice his chakra signature changing, slowly and infinitely approaching Hatake Kakashi's.
Hyuga Kawa knew clearly that if everyone with lingering regrets stopped here, then given the chaotic and twisted nature of the shinobi world, the 'gap' should be very crowded.
It was impossible for only Rin Nohara and Hatake Sakumo to have lingering regrets in the entire shinobi world.
Therefore, when Hatake Kakashi was killed by Pain, his ability to accurately encounter Hatake Sakumo must have met other necessary conditions.
And according to the Sage of Six Paths' long-cherished wish to "turn chakra into a bond connecting people," these necessary conditions were already self-evident.
The moment this chakra signature, belonging to Hatake Kakashi, which Hyuga Kawa had simulated, gradually spread outwards.
Buzz!
Like dropping a pebble into a lake, ripples spread out across the calm surface, extending towards the boundless darkness.
Finally, a smile appeared on Hyuga Kawa's face, and he whispered: "Found you."
He felt the "ripple" touch a reef, and an extremely faint yet exceptionally clear wave of feedback returned.
Without the slightest hesitation, Hyuga Kawa followed that faint connection, stepping forward.
Moving through this absolutely flat, featureless void was not by foot, nor by sight or hearing, but a "drawing closer" on a soul level.
And his movement did not last too long. In the depths of the thick, impenetrable darkness ahead, a faint light gradually appeared.
The light carried a warm, orange-red hue.
It was the color of fire.
As Hyuga Kawa drew closer, the firelight gradually became clearer and larger.
A solitary bonfire quietly burned in the darkness. The flames swayed without wind, and their warmth dispelled the surrounding cold stillness.
And those few pieces of firewood seemed to never burn out, becoming the only light source in this void, illuminating a small area of about several meters.
Beside the bonfire, on a stone, sat a figure.
The person had their back to Hyuga Kawa, the cuff of their left arm bearing a white armband embroidered with a red pattern. Their short, silver-white hair glowed warmly.
He sat there quietly, like a statue solidified in the crevice between life and death. The firelight cast his shadow long, stretching into the boundless darkness and stillness behind him.
That back view perfectly matched the figure in Hyuga Kawa's memory.
Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo.
A powerful soul who should have entered the Pure Land for peaceful slumber, yet was bound by irreconcilable regret and guilt, lingering here.
"Is that Kakashi?"
Hatake Sakumo remained with his back to Hyuga Kawa, looking at the firelight. His voice, seemingly calm, numb, and yet relieved, reached Kawa's ears.
Hyuga Kawa didn't answer. He simply walked to the stone beside him, brushed away non-existent dust, and sat down beside Sakumo, his actions so natural as if he belonged there.
"You..."
Hatake Sakumo, at this moment, also realized that the figure beside him, with a chakra signature identical to Kakashi's, was not the person he knew. After a moment of愣 (being stunned), he opened his mouth in surprise.
"To endure over twenty years of lonely suffering in a place like this, alone."
Hyuga Kawa's gaze rested on the stubbornly burning firelight before him, as if speaking to the flames, or perhaps sighing to himself: "Truly remarkable."
This space, without a doubt, was a place where all departed souls had to briefly stop and pass through before entering the Pure Land for slumber.
However, no one would ever stay too long in such an empty, timeless, cursed place.
No light, no sound, no sense of time passing, no sensory feedback.
This feeling was no different from being locked in a dark, silent room. Every second spent here was a terrifying and painful torment.
Therefore, for Hatake Sakumo to remain in this cursed place for over twenty years, it was clear how deep his obsession with Hatake Kakashi ran.
Hyuga Kawa couldn't help but sigh in admiration at the will supported by such a powerful obsession.
Hmm, if a madman like this could be transformed into a 'Hollow'...
"Over twenty years?"
Hearing this, Hatake Sakumo's body subtly trembled.
Time here had long been chaotic, blurry, even twisted. Had Hyuga Kawa not pointed it out, he himself wouldn't have been able to accurately perceive how long he had truly lingered here.
But soon, a deeper chill seeped from his heart, which even the fire before him couldn't warm.
"Who are you?"
Hatake Sakumo spoke again, his voice even drier than before. He slowly turned half of his face, the firelight outlining the resolute yet infinitely weathered contours of his profile.
Those eyes fixed on the bizarre figure beside him, filled with the instinctive vigilance and scrutiny honed during his lifetime.
"I know what Kakashi means to you."
Hyuga Kawa didn't look at Hatake Sakumo's reaction, his gaze still on the flickering firelight, his tone undeniably calm: "You want to see him, Hatake Sakumo."
"You abandoned the chance to enter the Pure Land and find peace, choosing to endure endless pain and stillness here, simply because you can't let go of that deep-seated regret, and..."
"You want to confirm one last time if that son you abandoned, who was only a few years old, is still alive, if he's living like a person."
Every word Hyuga Kawa uttered was like a surgeon's scalpel, precisely cutting into the most painful scar in Sakumo's heart.
Hatake Sakumo's eyes narrowed, and his hand resting on his knee lifted.
However, Hyuga Kawa's next words instantly made his body stiffen.
"I will take you away and bring you back to the Shinobi World."
"Of course, this is a declaration, not a request."
With that, Hyuga Kawa slowly stood up, looking down at Hatake Sakumo, who was in a state of profound shock. His voice carried a nearly cruel truth:
"I will erase all your memories, emotions, personality, and even make you personally kill Hatake Kakashi in Konoha..."
Hyuga Kawa wouldn't necessarily do that, but he needed Hatake Sakumo's powerful obsession to ensure the latter would give his all in the coming battles as a 'Hollow.'
"You!"
Hatake Sakumo suddenly woke from his daze, his eyes instantly turning sharp and fierce. He instinctively wanted to attack this person.
But the next moment, he found his body unable to move. An icy chill seemed to freeze his soul.
"You have no choice, Hatake Sakumo."
Hyuga Kawa slowly raised his right hand. Without hand seals or words, the shadow at his feet came alive.
This shadow, manifested from the depths of his soul, had silently crept onto Hatake Sakumo's ankles before Sakumo even noticed.
"Who exactly are you, and what do you want to do to Kakashi?!"
The usually calm and composed Hatake Sakumo, upon hearing that this person intended to harm Kakashi, finally revealed the brutal ferocity from the depths of his soul, his face contorting grimly.
"If you don't want that to happen," a smile appeared on Hyuga Kawa's shadow-shrouded face, "then continue to struggle and fight in pain and despair."
"Let me see how far you can go."
"Don't disappoint me."
As he spoke, the viscous black shadow rapidly spread upwards along Hatake Sakumo's legs, enveloping him little by little, until it covered his knees, waist, chest, silver-white hair, and face...
The light of the flames gradually dimmed.
And just as Hatake Sakumo was completely swallowed by darkness.
The stubbornly burning flame, which had burned for over twenty years, seemed to lose its last strength. With a soft whoosh, it completely extinguished.
Hatake Sakumo's figure vanished without a trace. Hyuga Kawa withdrew his hand, his figure also quietly dissolving into the darkness like an ink stain.
And after he vanished, a faint, ethereal gaze swept across the area, lingering on the extinguished bonfire.
"A new change?"
An aged voice seemed to drift from afar, its tone carrying a thoughtful calm.